(Waking Times | Karen Foster) Researchers have long suggested a link between the gut-brain axis and neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism, depression, and eating disorders. Using probiotics and prebiotics to alter the gut microbiota and influence the gut-brain axis may open up new ways of influencing neuropsychological conditions, says a new review.

The majority of the science for probiotics has focused on gut health, but as the understanding of the gut and the microbiome increases, probiotics are increasing linked to a range of beneficial effects, from weight management to immune support and allergy response, and from oral health to cholesterol reduction.

The gut contains microorganisms that share a structural similarity with the neuropeptides involved in regulating behavior, mood, and emotion – a phenomenon known as molecular mimicry.

At the “forefront of current research” is work on the gut-brain axis – the two direction communication between the gut microbiota and the brain. Data from rodent studies has indicated that modification of the gut microbiota can alter signaling mechanisms, emotional behavior, and instinctive reflexes.

Researchers have long postulated that gut bacteria influence brain function. A century ago, Russian embryologist Elie Metchnikoff surmised that a healthy colonic microbial community could help combat senility and that the friendly bacterial strains found in sour milk and yogurt would increase a person’s longevity.

Communication
According to a new review in Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment by Linghong Zhou and Jane Foster from McMaster University in Canada, communication channels between the gut and the brain include sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves and the enteric nervous system (ENS).

“The role of the sympathetic nervous system in the gut-brain axis includes regulating motility, blood flow, barrier function, and immune system activation”, they said. “Bidirectional communication via the vagus nerve, a component of the parasympathetic nervous system, is a well-established pathway for gut-brain signaling and, in recent years, has emerged as an important microbiota to brain communication pathway.“The ENS, sometimes referred to as “the second brain” comprises intrinsic primary afferent neurons, motor neurons, and glial cells contained within the myenteric plexus and the submucosal plexus that extends along the entire length of the gut. The ENS plays an essential role in normal intestinal function including motility and secretion.”

Gut-brain axis
The body can’t tell the difference between the structure of these mimics and its own cells, so antibodies could end up attacking both, potentially altering the physiology of the gut-brain axis. The bacteria present in the gut affects the communication between belly and brain, they said, and the lack of healthy gut microbiota lead to dysfunction in the gut-brain axis, which in turn may lead to neuropsychological, metabolic, and gastrointestinal disorders.

Intervention trials with select strains of probiotics have revealed that supplementation may influence mood (Lactobacillus casei Shirota), and anxiety and depression (L. helveticus and B. longum). There is also some data to support an effect with prebiotics, with improvements in stress hormone levels and attention in health volunteers taking oligosaccharides.

Neuropsychological disorders
The role of the gut microbiota in the development of neuropsychological disorders is also a focus for many researchers around the world, with data supporting an association between dysbiosis (microbial imbalance) in the gut and disorders including depression and autism spectrum disorder, metabolic disorders such as obesity, and gastrointestinal disorders including IBD and IBS.

“Fortunately, studies have also indicated that gut microbiota may be modulated with the use of probiotics, antibiotics, and fecal microbiota transplants as a prospect for therapy in microbiota-associated diseases”, wrote Zhou and Foster. “This modulation of gut microbiota is currently a growing area of research as it just might hold the key to treatment.”

The power of probiotics
Probiotics offset other intestinal bacteria that produce putrefactive and carcinogenic toxins. If harmful bacteria dominate the intestines, essential vitamins and enzymes are not produced and the level of harmful substances rises leading to cancer, liver and kidney disease, hypertension, arteriosclerosis and abnormal immunity. Harmful bacteria can proliferate under many different circumstances including peristalsis disorders, surgical operations of the stomach or small intestine, liver or kidney diseases, pernicious anaemia, cancer, radiation or antibiotic therapies, chemotherapy, immune disorders, emotional stress, poor diets and aging

The best known of the probiotics are the Lactobacilli, a number of species of which (acidophilus, bulgaricus, casei and sporogenes) reside in the human intestine in a symbiotic relationship with each other and with other microorganisms (the friendly Streptococci, E. coli and Bifidobacteria). Lactobacilli are essential for maintaining gut microfloral health, but the overall balance of the various microorganisms in the gut is what is most important.

Another probiotic which has recently generated a great deal of interest is the friendly yeast known as Saccharomyces boulardii, an organism that belongs to the Brewer’s Yeast family, not the Candida albicans group. S. boulardii is not a permanent resident of the intestine but, taken orally, it produces lactic acid and some B vitamins, and has an overall immune enhancing effect. In fact, it has been used therapeutically to fight candida infections.

Six surprising facts about microbes in your gut1. What’s in your gut may affect the size of your gut
Need to lose weight? Why not try a gut bacteria transplant?New research published in the journal Sciencesuggests that the microbes in your gut may play a role in obesity.

2. Probiotics may treat anxiety and depression
Scientists have been exploring the connection between gut bacteria and chemicals in the brain for years. New research adds more weight to the theory that researchers call “the microbiome–gut–brain axis.”Research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science shows that mice fed the bacterium Lactobacillus rhamnosus showed fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression. Researchers theorize that this is because L. rhamnosus acts on the central gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system, which helps regulate emotional behavior. L. rhamnosus, which is available as a commercial probiotic supplement, has also been linked to the prevention of diarrhea, atopic dermatitis, and respiratory tract infections.

3. The more bacteria the better
While bacteria on the outside of your body can cause serious infections, the bacteria inside your body can protect against it. Studies have shown that animals without gut bacteria are more susceptible to serious infections.Bacteria found naturally inside your gut have a protective barrier effect against other living organisms that enter your body. They help the body prevent harmful bacteria from rapidly growing in your stomach, which could spell disaster for your bowels. To do this, they develop a give-and-take relationship with your body. “The host actively provides a nutrient that the bacterium needs, and the bacterium actively indicates how much it needs to the host,” according to research published in The Lancet.

4. Gut bacteria pass from mother to child in breast milk
It’s common knowledge that a mother’s milk can help beef up a baby’s immune system. New research indicates that the protective effects of gut bacteria can be transferred from mother to baby during breastfeeding. Work published in Environmental Microbiology shows that important gut bacteria travels from mother to child through breast milk to colonize a child’s own gut, helping his or her immune system to mature.

5. Lack of gut diversity is linked to allergies
Too few bacteria in the gut can throw the immune system off balance and make it go haywire with hay fever.
Researchers in Copenhagen reviewed the medical records and stool samples of 411 infants. They found that those who didn’t have diverse colonies of gut bacteria were more likely to develop allergies. But before you throw your gut bacteria a proliferation party, know that they aren’t always beneficial.

6. Gut bacteria can hurt your liver
Your liver gets 70 percent of its blood flow from your intestines, so it’s natural they would share more than just oxygenated blood. Italian researchers found that between 20 and 75 percent of patients with chronic fatty liver disease–the kind not associated with alcoholism–also had an overgrowth of gut bacteria. Some believe that the transfer of gut bacteria to the liver could be responsible for chronic liver disease.

Research is increasingly showing a mind-body connection. Did you know, for example, that depression could be a result of bacteria in your gut?

In 2012, scientists at University College Cork discovered that brain levels of serotonin, or the ‘happy hormone,’ are regulated by the amount of bacteria in the gut during early life. In other words, normal adult brain function depends on the presence of gut microbes from when you were a child.

But even as an adult, gut bacteria, or microbiome, seems to affect mood. It helps to maintain brain function and influences the risk of psychiatric and neurological disorders like depression.

The connection

To better understand how this works, Dr. Willa Hsueh, from the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, explains that gut microbiome produce enzymes that make metabolites, or small molecules that result from metabolism, from the foods we eat. Many of these metabolites affect brain, neuroendocrine, and neurological function.

“The species of bacteria that people develop are impacted by many factors including type of food ingested, environment, presence of obesity and other diseases, infections and treatment with antibiotics,” says Dr. Hsueh.

Got serotonin? Dr. Patrick Fratellone, MD, FIM, RH (AHG), an integrative MD and herbalist, says 90 percent of serotonin, or the ‘happy hormone,’ is made in the small intestines.

Multiple insults to the gut can cause low serotonin. An important one can be caused by certain food allergies or sensitivities, Dr. Fratellone says, like non-celiac gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. People who have a gluten sensitivity or allergy may experience depression, anxiety, insomnia, and lack of focus/concentration. “Each of these is caused by changes in the neurotransmitters caused by the low serotonin level,” he says, “accompanied by low levels of vitamin D3.”

Other causes include overgrowth of candida, accumulation of metals in the body, and chronic infections, Dr. Fratellone says.

Treatment

It’s possible to test for gut flora and the presence of an overgrowth of certain bacteria strains, which are known to influence symptoms of anxiety and depression, says Dr. James Greenblatt, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Services at Walden Behavioral Care and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Dr. Fratellone recommends doing a blood test for allergies as well as starting a rotation and elimination dietary lifestyle. If the blood test is positive for celiac, then eliminating all gluten will result in a positive change in mood.

In addition to finding and treating the underlying cause, there are many supplements, vitamins, and herbs that help with digestion. “This will lead to changes in the neurochemistry, thus making the individual feel better,” says Dr. Fratellone. Some of these supplements include the amino acid glutamine and a probiotic. Herbs that have been shown to help alleviate gastrointestinal distress are Meadowsweet, Marsh mallow, Slippery Elm, and deglycerrhized licorice.

The bottom line is that it’s safe for women with depression to take high dose probiotics to help alleviate symptoms by maintaining a healthy gut balance, says Dr. Greenblatt.

Women’s risk

The University College Cork study showed that the serotonin-bacteria influence was sex dependent, with more effects in male compared with female animals.

Dr. Greenblatt cites a 2014 study published in Nature Communications. The study found that the microbes living in the guts of females and males react differently to diet, even if the diets are identical. “Genetics, lifestyle, diet and stress can affect the variety and abundance of certain strains of microbes in the gut, which can have a profound effect on mental health and well-being,” says Dr. Greenblatt. He says it’s unclear why women and men react differently to certain diets, but it could potentially be due to the different hormones produced by the different sexes, which affect the habitat of the gut microbiome. “Despite the differences, women are not necessarily more prone to this connection,” he says.

On the horizon

The good news is the more scientists learn about this phenomenon, the greater the benefit to our overall health. A Colorado professor is studying whether beneficial microbes can be used to treat or prevent stress-related psychiatric conditions, including depression. Ultimately, brain disorders may be treated through the gut, a much easier target for drug delivery than the brain.

Earlier this year, researchers gave 40 healthy young adults a powdered probiotic supplement every night for four weeks or a placebo, Dr. Greenblatt says. “The group that consumed the probiotic supplement began to see improvement in their moods and reported less reactivity to bouts of sadness, and had fewer depressive thoughts when compared to the non-probiotic group,” he adds. “Although preliminary, the results are promising in demonstrating the potential of probiotics as a safe and cost-effective therapy to help prevent and treat depression.”

Eventually, “the goal would be to measure bacteria and metabolites in a stool sample to determine whether there are microbiome and metabolite changes that predict or are causative of depression,” says Dr. Hsueh.

Experiencing the connection

Kim Rullo has irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and depression/anxiety. She’s read about gut bacteria affecting overall health in terms of immunity issues, inflammation, and the like, so she says she wouldn’t be surprised if they were related somehow.

“I am always looking for ways to alleviate depression symptoms, whether it be exercise or other,” says Rullo. “I did a regimen of Activia and exercise when I was having severe stomach issues, and that seemed to positively affect my overall health.” She says with more research, she would probably explore a simple regimen once again to help her general wellness.

Another woman who has depression (and asked for her name to be withheld) says she definitely agrees with the gut-mental connection. “It’s very real,” she says. She’s been using a magnesium supplement every day for a year, and it has totally helped her get over depression. She never realized the connection before. Sure enough, magnesium is necessary for serotonin production.

She only heard about the supplement because she started seeing an acupuncturist, as traditional therapy wasn’t helping. Even though she went to the acupuncturist for depression, she was asked about how often she goes to the bathroom. The supplement was one of the first things recommended.

Of course, she did her own research as well. She read a lot of reviews and talked to her doctor. “[The supplement] has become a necessity for me,” she says. “For me, what I eat, my weight, constipation, and depression are all connected. Taking constipation out of the mix has helped break a vicious cycle.”

The rich array of microbiota in our intestines can tell us more than you might think.

Eighteen vials were rocking back and forth on a squeaky mechanical device the shape of a butcher scale, and Mark Lyte was beside himself with excitement. ‘‘We actually got some fresh yesterday — freshly frozen,’’ Lyte said to a lab technician. Each vial contained a tiny nugget of monkey feces that were collected at the Harlow primate lab near Madison, Wis., the day before and shipped to Lyte’s lab on the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center campus in Abilene, Tex.

Lyte’s interest was not in the feces per se but in the hidden form of life they harbor. The digestive tube of a monkey, like that of all vertebrates, contains vast quantities of what biologists call gut microbiota. The genetic material of these trillions of microbes, as well as others living elsewhere in and on the body, is collectively known as the microbiome. Taken together, these bacteria can weigh as much as six pounds, and they make up a sort of organ whose functions have only begun to reveal themselves to science. Lyte has spent his career trying to prove that gut microbes communicate with the nervous system using some of the same neurochemicals that relay messages in the brain.

Inside a closet-size room at his lab that afternoon, Lyte hunched over to inspect the vials, whose samples had been spun down in a centrifuge to a radiant, golden broth. Lyte, 60, spoke fast and emphatically. ‘‘You wouldn’t believe what we’re extracting out of poop,’’ he told me. ‘‘We found that the guys here in the gut make neurochemicals. We didn’t know that. Now, if they make this stuff here, does it have an influence there? Guess what? We make the same stuff. Maybe all this communication has an influence on our behavior.’’

Credit: Illustration by Andrew Rae

Since 2007, when scientists announced plans for a Human Microbiome Project to catalog the micro-organisms living in our body, the profound appreciation for the influence of such organisms has grown rapidly with each passing year. Bacteria in the gut produce vitamins and break down our food; their presence or absence has been linked to obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and the toxic side effects of prescription drugs. Biologists now believe that much of what makes us human depends on microbial activity. The two million unique bacterial genes found in each human microbiome can make the 23,000 genes in our cells seem paltry, almost negligible, by comparison. ‘‘It has enormous implications for the sense of self,’’ Tom Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, told me. ‘‘We are, at least from the standpoint of DNA, more microbial than human. That’s a phenomenal insight and one that we have to take seriously when we think about human development.’’

Given the extent to which bacteria are now understood to influence human physiology, it is hardly surprising that scientists have turned their attention to how bacteria might affect the brain. Micro-organisms in our gut secrete a profound number of chemicals, and researchers like Lyte have found that among those chemicals are the same substances used by our neurons to communicate and regulate mood, like dopamine, serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). These, in turn, appear to play a function in intestinal disorders, which coincide with high levels of major depression and anxiety. Last year, for example, a group in Norway examined feces from 55 people and found certain bacteria were more likely to be associated with depressive patients.

At the time of my visit to Lyte’s lab, he was nearly six months into an experiment that he hoped would better establish how certain gut microbes influenced the brain, functioning, in effect, as psychiatric drugs. He was currently compiling a list of the psychoactive compounds found in the feces of infant monkeys. Once that was established, he planned to transfer the microbes found in one newborn monkey’s feces into another’s intestine, so that the recipient would end up with a completely new set of microbes — and, if all went as predicted, change their neurodevelopment. The experiment reflected an intriguing hypothesis. Anxiety, depression and several pediatric disorders, including autism and hyperactivity, have been linked with gastrointestinal abnormalities. Microbial transplants were not invasive brain surgery, and that was the point: Changing a patient’s bacteria might be difficult but it still seemed more straightforward than altering his genes.

When Lyte began his work on the link between microbes and the brain three decades ago, it was dismissed as a curiosity. By contrast, last September, the National Institute of Mental Health awarded four grants worth up to $1 million each to spur new research on the gut microbiome’s role in mental disorders, affirming the legitimacy of a field that had long struggled to attract serious scientific credibility. Lyte and one of his longtime colleagues, Christopher Coe, at the Harlow primate lab, received one of the four. ‘‘What Mark proposed going back almost 25 years now has come to fruition,’’ Coe told me. ‘‘Now what we’re struggling to do is to figure out the logic of it.’’ It seems plausible, if not yet proved, that we might one day use microbes to diagnose neurodevelopmental disorders, treat mental illnesses and perhaps even fix them in the brain.

In 2011, a team of researchers at University College Cork, in Ireland, and McMaster University, in Ontario, published a study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that has become one of the best-known experiments linking bacteria in the gut to the brain. Laboratory mice were dropped into tall, cylindrical columns of water in what is known as a forced-swim test, which measures over six minutes how long the mice swim before they realize that they can neither touch the bottom nor climb out, and instead collapse into a forlorn float. Researchers use the amount of time a mouse floats as a way to measure what they call ‘‘behavioral despair.’’ (Antidepressant drugs, like Zoloft and Prozac, were initially tested using this forced-swim test.)

For several weeks, the team, led by John Cryan, the neuroscientist who designed the study, fed a small group of healthy rodents a broth infused with Lactobacillus rhamnosus, a common bacterium that is found in humans and also used to ferment milk into probiotic yogurt. Lactobacilli are one of the dominant organisms babies ingest as they pass through the birth canal. Recent studies have shown that mice stressed during pregnancy pass on lowered levels of the bacterium to their pups. This type of bacteria is known to release immense quantities of GABA; as an inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA calms nervous activity, which explains why the most common anti-anxiety drugs, like Valium and Xanax, work by targeting GABA receptors.

Cryan found that the mice that had been fed the bacteria-laden broth kept swimming longer and spent less time in a state of immobilized woe. ‘‘They behaved as if they were on Prozac,’’ he said. ‘‘They were more chilled out and more relaxed.’’ The results suggested that the bacteria were somehow altering the neural chemistry of mice.

Until he joined his colleagues at Cork 10 years ago, Cryan thought about microbiology in terms of pathology: the neurological damage created by diseases like syphilis or H.I.V. ‘‘There are certain fields that just don’t seem to interact well,’’ he said. ‘‘Microbiology and neuroscience, as whole disciplines, don’t tend to have had much interaction, largely because the brain is somewhat protected.’’ He was referring to the fact that the brain is anatomically isolated, guarded by a blood-brain barrier that allows nutrients in but keeps out pathogens and inflammation, the immune system’s typical response to germs. Cryan’s study added to the growing evidence that signals from beneficial bacteria nonetheless find a way through the barrier. Somehow — though his 2011 paper could not pinpoint exactly how — micro-organisms in the gut tickle a sensory nerve ending in the fingerlike protrusion lining the intestine and carry that electrical impulse up the vagus nerve and into the deep-brain structures thought to be responsible for elemental emotions like anxiety. Soon after that, Cryan and a co-author, Ted Dinan, published a theory paper in Biological Psychiatry calling these potentially mind-altering microbes ‘‘psychobiotics.’’

It has long been known that much of our supply of neurochemicals — an estimated 50 percent of the dopamine, for example, and a vast majority of the serotonin — originate in the intestine, where these chemical signals regulate appetite, feelings of fullness and digestion. But only in recent years has mainstream psychiatric research given serious consideration to the role microbes might play in creating those chemicals. Lyte’s own interest in the question dates back to his time as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh in 1985, when he found himself immersed in an emerging field with an unwieldy name: psychoneuroimmunology, or PNI, for short. The central theory, quite controversial at the time, suggested that stress worsened disease by suppressing our immune system.

By 1990, at a lab in Mankato, Minn., Lyte distilled the theory into three words, which he wrote on a chalkboard in his office: Stress->Immune->Disease. In the course of several experiments, he homed in on a paradox. When he dropped an intruder mouse in the cage of an animal that lived alone, the intruder ramped up its immune system — a boost, he suspected, intended to fight off germ-ridden bites or scratches. Surprisingly, though, this did not stop infections. It instead had the opposite effect: Stressed animals got sick. Lyte walked up to the board and scratched a line through the word ‘‘Immune.’’ Stress, he suspected, directly affected the bacterial bugs that caused infections.

To test how micro-organisms reacted to stress, he filled petri plates with a bovine-serum-based medium and laced the dishes with a strain of bacterium. In some, he dropped norepinephrine, a neurochemical that mammals produce when stressed. The next day, he snapped a Polaroid. The results were visible and obvious: The control plates were nearly barren, but those with the norepinephrine bloomed with bacteria that filigreed in frostlike patterns. Bacteria clearly responded to stress.

Then, to see if bacteria could induce stress, Lyte fed white mice a liquid solution of Campylobacter jejuni, a bacterium that can cause food poisoning in humans but generally doesn’t prompt an immune response in mice. To the trained eye, his treated mice were as healthy as the controls. But when he ran them through a plexiglass maze raised several feet above the lab floor, the bacteria-fed mice were less likely to venture out on the high, unprotected ledges of the maze. In human terms, they seemed anxious. Without the bacteria, they walked the narrow, elevated planks.

Credit Illustration by Andrew Rae

Each of these results was fascinating, but Lyte had a difficult time finding microbiology journals that would publish either. ‘‘It was so anathema to them,’’ he told me. When the mouse study finally appeared in the journal Physiology & Behavior in 1998, it garnered little attention. And yet as Stephen Collins, a gastroenterologist at McMaster University, told me, those first papers contained the seeds of an entire new field of research. ‘‘Mark showed, quite clearly, in elegant studies that are not often cited, that introducing a pathological bacterium into the gut will cause a change in behavior.’’

Lyte went on to show how stressful conditions for newborn cattle worsened deadly E. coli infections. In another experiment, he fed mice lean ground hamburger that appeared to improve memory and learning — a conceptual proof that by changing diet, he could change gut microbes and change behavior. After accumulating nearly a decade’s worth of evidence, in July 2008, he flew to Washington to present his research. He was a finalist for the National Institutes of Health’s Pioneer Award, a $2.5 million grant for so-called blue-sky biomedical research. Finally, it seemed, his time had come. When he got up to speak, Lyte described a dialogue between the bacterial organ and our central nervous system. At the two-minute mark, a prominent scientist in the audience did a spit take.

‘‘Dr. Lyte,’’ he later asked at a question-and-answer session, ‘‘if what you’re saying is right, then why is it when we give antibiotics to patients to kill bacteria, they are not running around crazy on the wards?’’

Lyte knew it was a dismissive question. And when he lost out on the grant, it confirmed to him that the scientific community was still unwilling to imagine that any part of our neural circuitry could be influenced by single-celled organisms. Lyte published his theory in Medical Hypotheses, a low-ranking journal that served as a forum for unconventional ideas. The response, predictably, was underwhelming. ‘‘I had people call me crazy,’’ he said.

But by 2011 — when he published a second theory paper in Bioessays, proposing that probiotic bacteria could be tailored to treat specific psychological diseases — the scientific community had become much more receptive to the idea. A Canadian team, led by Stephen Collins, had demonstrated that antibiotics could be linked to less cautious behavior in mice, and only a few months before Lyte, Sven Pettersson, a microbiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, published a landmark paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that showed that mice raised without microbes spent far more time running around outside than healthy mice in a control group; without the microbes, the mice showed less apparent anxiety and were more daring. In Ireland, Cryan published his forced-swim-test study on psychobiotics. There was now a groundswell of new research. In short order, an implausible idea had become a hypothesis in need of serious validation.

Late last year, Sarkis Mazmanian, a microbiologist at the California Institute of Technology, gave a presentation at the Society for Neuroscience, ‘‘Gut Microbes and the Brain: Paradigm Shift in Neuroscience.’’ Someone had inadvertently dropped a question mark from the end, so the speculation appeared to be a definitive statement of fact. But if anyone has a chance of delivering on that promise, it’s Mazmanian, whose research has moved beyond the basic neurochemicals to focus on a broader class of molecules called metabolites: small, equally druglike chemicals that are produced by micro-organisms. Using high-powered computational tools, he also hopes to move beyond the suggestive correlations that have typified psychobiotic research to date, and instead make decisive discoveries about the mechanisms by which microbes affect brain function.

Two years ago, Mazmanian published a study in the journal Cell with Elaine Hsiao, then a graduate student and now a neuroscientist at Caltech, and others, that made a provocative link between a single molecule and behavior. Their research found that mice exhibiting abnormal communication and repetitive behaviors, like obsessively burying marbles, were mollified when they were given one of two strains of the bacterium Bacteroides fragilis.

The study added to a working hypothesis in the field that microbes don’t just affect the permeability of the barrier around the brain but also influence the intestinal lining, which normally prevents certain bacteria from leaking out and others from getting in. When the intestinal barrier was compromised in his model, normally ‘‘beneficial’’ bacteria and the toxins they produce seeped into the bloodstream and raised the possibility they could slip past the blood-brain barrier. As one of his colleagues, Michael Fischbach, a microbiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, said: ‘‘The scientific community has a way of remaining skeptical until every last arrow has been drawn, until the entire picture is colored in. Other scientists drew the pencil outlines, and Sarkis is filling in a lot of the color.’’

Mazmanian knew the results offered only a provisional explanation for why restrictive diets and antibacterial treatments seemed to help some children with autism: Altering the microbial composition might be changing the permeability of the intestine. ‘‘The larger concept is, and this is pure speculation: Is a disease like autism really a disease of the brain or maybe a disease of the gut or some other aspect of physiology?’’ Mazmanian said. For any disease in which such a link could be proved, he saw a future in drugs derived from these small molecules found inside microbes. (A company he co-founded, Symbiotix Biotherapies, is developing a complex sugar called PSA, which is associated with Bacteroides fragilis, into treatments for intestinal disease and multiple sclerosis.) In his view, the prescriptive solutions probably involve more than increasing our exposure to environmental microbes in soil, dogs or even fermented foods; he believed there were wholesale failures in the way we shared our microbes and inoculated children with these bacteria. So far, though, the only conclusion he could draw was that disorders once thought to be conditions of the brain might be symptoms of microbial disruptions, and it was the careful defining of these disruptions that promised to be helpful in the coming decades.

The list of potential treatments incubating in labs around the world is startling. Several international groups have found that psychobiotics had subtle yet perceptible effects in healthy volunteers in a battery of brain-scanning and psychological tests. Another team in Arizona recently finished an open trial on fecal transplants in children with autism. (Simultaneously, at least two offshore clinics, in Australia and England, began offering fecal microbiota treatments to treat neurological disorders, like multiple sclerosis.) Mazmanian, however, cautions that this research is still in its infancy. ‘‘We’ve reached the stage where there’s a lot of, you know, ‘The microbiome is the cure for everything,’ ’’ he said. ‘‘I have a vested interest if it does. But I’d be shocked if it did.’’

Lyte issues the same caveat. ‘‘People are obviously desperate for solutions,’’ Lyte said when I visited him in Abilene. (He has since moved to Iowa State’s College of Veterinary Medicine.) ‘‘My main fear is the hype is running ahead of the science.’’ He knew that parents emailing him for answers meant they had exhausted every option offered by modern medicine. ‘‘It’s the Wild West out there,’’ he said. ‘‘You can go online and buy any amount of probiotics for any number of conditions now, and my paper is one of those cited. I never said go out and take probiotics.’’ He added, ‘‘We really need a lot more research done before we actually have people trying therapies out.’’

If the idea of psychobiotics had now, in some ways, eclipsed him, it was nevertheless a curious kind of affirmation, even redemption: an old-school microbiologist thrust into the midst of one of the most promising aspects of neuroscience. At the moment, he had a rough map in his head and a freezer full of monkey fecals that might translate, somehow, into telling differences between gregarious or shy monkeys later in life. I asked him if what amounted to a personality transplant still sounded a bit far-fetched. He seemed no closer to unlocking exactly what brain functions could be traced to the same organ that produced feces. ‘‘If you transfer the microbiota from one animal to another, you can transfer the behavior,’’ Lyte said. ‘‘What we’re trying to understand are the mechanisms by which the microbiota can influence the brain and development. If you believe that, are you now out on the precipice? The answer is yes. Do I think it’s the future? I think it’s a long way away.’’

Correction: June 25, 2015
An earlier version of this article described incorrectly the affiliation of Elaine Hsiao, an author of a study published in the journal Cell that linked bacteria to behavioral changes. At the time, she was a graduate student in the lab of Paul Patterson, another author of the study, not in the lab of Sarkis Mazmanian.

Peter Andrey Smith is a reporter living in Brooklyn. He frequently writes about the microbial world.

Reporting for this article was supported by the UC Berkeley-11th Hour Food and Farming Journalism Fellowship.

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A version of this article appears in print on June 28, 2015, on page MM46 of the Sunday Magazine with the headline: Gut Feelings.

Researchers at Cornell University have successfully treated diabetic rats by engineering a strain of lactobacillus, a rod-shaped bacteria common in the human gut, resulting in up to 30 percent lower blood glucose levels. The technology could pave the way for a new treatment for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes that could one day see managing diabetes be as easy as taking a daily probiotic pill..

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), diabetes is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that around 29 million people have the disease, many of whom aren’t even aware they have it. The Cornell study could take us one step closer to a safe, effective way for people to control the disease.

In their proof of principle study the researchers modified a strain of human lactobacillus to secrete a protein called Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), which helps manage blood sugar levels, and administered it orally to diabetic rats for 90 days.

The upper intestinal epithelial cells of the diabetic rats were converted into cells that acted very much like pancreatic beta cells, which in healthy people monitor blood glucose levels and secrete insulin to balance glucose levels.

The rats with high blood glucose developed insulin-producing cells within the upper intestine in numbers sufficient to replace 25 to 33 percent of the insulin capacity of nondiabetic healthy rats.

“The amount of time to reduce glucose levels following a meal is the same as in a normal rat, … and it is matched to the amount of glucose in the blood, just as it would be with a normal-functioning pancreas,” says John March, professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University and the paper’s senior author. “It’s moving the center of glucose control from the pancreas to the upper intestine.”

Conversely, the engineered probiotic did not appear to affect the blood glucose levels of healthy rats.

The technology is being licensed by biopharmaceutical company BioPancreate, which is working to get the therapy into production for human use.

“Since this has not been tested in humans we do not know the extent to which it will replace needed insulin making capacity,” March told Gizmag. “It is possible that someone who currently injects insulin will not have to anymore, but it is perhaps more likely that it will be used in conjunction with other methods to maintain healthy glucose levels.”

Future work will test higher doses to see if a complete treatment can be achieved, and the team is looking at many avenues for improving this technology for both diabetes and several other diseases, says March.

How I Answered the Question “But don’t you worry about germs and parasites when you eat raw meat, fish and dairy?”

In 2006, I was giving a one-day seminar near Appleton, Wisconsin on a special class of beneficial probiotic microbes (Syntropic Antioxidative Microbes, Type 4 consortia) and their applications in agriculture and in human and animal health. During the Q&A part of the session, a woman said: “I came to this seminar because I know of your work in the realms of largely-raw and partly-raw Paleolithic diets, and I have visited your raw Paleo diet website many times. I drove a long distance today to ask you this question: Don’t you worry about being exposed to germs and parasites when you eat raw meat, raw fish and raw dairy?”

Here is what I said to her in reply:
“Yes, I worry a lot about microbes and so-called parasites in relation to my consumption of raw meat, fish and dairy! Specifically, what I worry about is the possibility that, due to modern sanitation practices and the ubiquity of antibiotics and anthelmintic drugs in modern agriculture, I may not be exposed to as many microbes and so-called parasites in the raw meat, dairy and fish that I eat as I would prefer.

You see, I believe that in order to be truly healthy, and to able to have a truly strong immune system, our bodies need to be regularly exposed to a very wide variety of microbes and so-called parasites, where most of the latter are not true parasites at all, but rather commensals which are quite necessary for optimal health! So, I tend to go out of my way to increase my exposure to all sorts of microbes and so-called parasites in my diet, and about the only cautionary rule of thumb that I employ is that I totally avoid the eating raw meat of carnivorous animals (such a pigs), in order to avoid trichinosis, an illness caused by exposure ot a type of roundworm known as Trichinella spiralis.”

In a smaller break-out group a bit later in the seminar, I expounded upon my earlier answer to the woman’s question about microbes and “parasites” in raw foods, adding that the vast majority of microbes, over 99.99% of them, are harmless, and that even many of the so-called foodborne “pathgenic microbes”, such as Listeria, Salmonella, and the “bad” strains of E. coli (i.e., the O157:H7 variant) are harmless to persons who have healthy GI tracts and who have not abused their bodies and their GI tracts by having ingested antibiotics.

You may already know that a healthy gut and plenty of probiotics to support your gastrointestinal health are absolutely critical to boosting your immune system (gut flora may account for 80% of immunity), but a new study coming from the University of Michigan has proven that probiotics may just be the answer to poisonous chemotherapy treatments and the overuse of antibiotics which tend to kill all the good bacteria in our bodies.

When people undergo chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer, the antibiotics which are often prescribed post-treatment also kill whatever good bacteria are left, thus causing an absolute crisis for the immune system, and upping the chance that chemo will kill you.

Chemotherapy is already one of the top causes of death among cancer patients, though this fact is hotly contested. Much of the pro-chemo science comes from the $200 billion dollar industry which supports it. Many natural treatments for cancer are suppressed for his reason. The simple fact that making sure you have healthy gut flora can help keep you from dying of cancer is one of those ‘cures’ the Big Pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to be aware of, among utilizing other cancer-fighting foods.

The University of Michigan study, which was published in the journal Nature, was centered around ‘Rspol’ or ‘R-spondon1’ which activates cell production in the intestinal walls which then help to regenerate tissue that is damaged by chemotherapy and other forms of poisonous drugs. Mice given R-spondon1 survived fatal doses of chemotherapy since the substance was able to help their bodies regenerate new tissue faster than the chemo could destroy it.

The problem is that pharmaceutical companies can charge upwards of $50,000 for one dose of Rspol. The secret they don’t want you to know is that probiotics help your body to make its own – without the hefty price tag. In a healthy person with good gut-bacteria supported by probiotics and the reduction of high carbohydrates, meat, dairy, and refined sugars (which tend to cause an imbalance in healthy gut flora), this special R-spondon1 is made every 4 to 5 days all on its own as part of our bodies’ blueprint for naturally good health.

The epithelial cells in the intestinal walls are responsible for making sure this substance is made consistently, and without good probiotics and gut health, he cells start to slack on the job. Rapid cellular regeneration happens in those who have good gut health and balanced intestinal flora.

As the pharmaceutical companies continuously try to patent or co-opt natural cures, it is our responsibility to ourselves and our collective society to make sure people are aware of the natural ways which our bodies already heal themselves. You can pass this along to friends and family to make sure the pharmaceutical companies don’t keep us dumbed down. Probiotics, in short order, are a simple and natural way to support cellular regeneration and live through chemotherapy.

Keynotes Speech, by Professor Teruo Higa
I would like to extend my gratitude to all of you for your cooperation in organizing the First International EM Medical Conference. As Dr. Usmani just mentioned, EM possesses a very wide diversity of mysterious power. Through my research on EM for the past twenty years, the roles or power of EM may be summarized under the following three headings; antioxidation, deionization, and regeneration.

Antioxidation
Antioxidation is now common knowledge throughout the field of medicine. When we talk about antioxidation, we tend to think about antioxidants, vitamin C and vitamin E. In fact, EM contains only a small amount of these substances. Instead, the major components of EM include various polysaccharides that have attracted attention lately, as well as chelated minerals, which differ somehow from olizanol and inositol, the conventional antioxidants. These chelated substances are characterized by having an antioxidation effect while possessing catalytic actions.

Deionization
In human beings, nutrients are absorbed into the body in ionized forms. This occurs not only in humans, but also in plants. Therefore, there is a misunderstanding that everything that is ionized is good. This is because if a substance is ionized under the usual condition, free radicals are induced. In other words, if a substance remains in ionized form and comes into contact with oxygen, it is converted into harmful substances. Therefore, a substance in a persistently ionized state has a minus aspect. The most important thing is that they are in an easily ionized state up to the time of absorption. This is the essence of deionization. EM has a very special property. When EM is used, substances in ionized form are converted into deionized form. Then just before they are ready to be absorbed by plants or animals, they instantly change back into the ionized form.
This principle was first utilized in making permanent battery in industry. When a battery goes out of order, this occurs when excessive ions are accumulated, or when excessive free radicals are generated. Deionization prevents the excessive accumulation. Therefore, when we talk about deionization, we do not mean that all the ions are deionized, but to change those ions that are in a state of inducing free radicals into a normal state, and to prevent the ions from getting into a state of excessive reactivity.

I have mentioned this in my new recently published book entitled “Ocean Salt with Amazing Regenerating Power”. In this book, I wrote that there are two kinds of salt. One type is good for your body and the other type is bad for your body. Salt that is bad for the body has a strong ionizing power. And, because the ions of this salt strongly induce active oxygen species and free radicals, consequently it becomes a salt that is bad for the body. However, when this strongly ionizing salt is treated with EM, it is changed into a deionized state and becomes a salt good for health. As soon as you start taking this salt, the body condition greatly improves. Food also becomes tastier with it. The salt has properties different from common salt. The basic property of this salt resembles the property of deep seawater collected from a depth greater than 200 m. This deep seawater possesses wonderous properties; for example, nails do not rust when they are left in this water.
This salt has the same properties. In fact, this applies to all matter. For the same substance, whether it is said to be good or bad for the body all depends on the level of ions. Whether or not a substance induces active oxygen species and free radicals determines whether it is good or bad to the body. The characteristics of using EM, EM-X or EM ceramics is that with time, the substance turns to a deionized state, and it stops causing harmful effects.

Regeneration
Various regenerative phenomena occur when EM is used, although the mechanisms are not yet understood.
When iron is immersed in EM-X, a phenomenon that the iron increases in mass; that is, in weight, can be observed. Usually, when iron rusts, its mass decreases. With EM-X, the weight of iron is increased. This phenomenon cannot be explained by the conventional scientific theories.
For example, after using a new razor blade, if we immerse it in EM-X and observe it, we find the following. Immediately after use, the blade is slightly dented. On the next day, when we look at it under microscope, the blade is continuous and has recovered to its original state. Our research reveals that compared to the initial measurements, the mass and energy are both increased.
When EM is used diversely in agriculture, even after snow falls, the grounds applied with EM are not covered in snow and the snow soon melts away. When used on roads, the roads do not get frozen up. They are both associated with a special kind of wave. This phenomenon is unlikely to occur if extra energy is not added to the system.
In the beginning, we tried to explain this energy by calling it magnetic wave resonance, because we found that the energy resonates with magnetism. Afterward, through research conducted by various researchers, some scholars advised me and proposed that the energy may be gravity wave.
Conducting research to prove the existence of gravity wave resonance has been a difficult task. Even so, Dr. Seki who is engaged in the research of gravity wave resonance has demonstrated that a considerable number of microorganisms generate gravity wave. These microorganisms are useful bacteria that are commonly used in food processing, including lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. Almost all of these useful bacteria have the capability to produce antioxidant substances. It has been published that these bacteria generate gravity wave resonance. Subsequently, we also investigated this aspect, and found that among these bacteria, photosynthetic bacteria generated tremendous gravity wave. Photosynthetic bacteria possess various wonderful properties. One of the properties is that they convert very strong heat shock stress into electricity so that they are not harmed by the heat. When the photosynthetic bacteria are isolated in pure culture and strengthened, even after boiling at 100°C they are not killed. If we mix these photosynthetic bacteria that are resistant to over 100°C with clay, bake it at 1200°C into ceramics and leave it on a clean bench in a germfree state, then if we culture the ceramics in a medium containing nutrients for the photosynthetic bacteria, we get colonies of the photosynthetic bacteria. We repeated this experiment again and again. Finally, by checking for bacterial chlorophyll (pigment possessed by photosynthetic bacteria) and DNA sequence, the results confirmed that these bacteria were undoubtedly photosynthetic bacteria.
We presented these results at the Conference of Applied Microbiology Association, but nobody believed our findings. After exchanging various opinions, we asked them if the methods we used were incorrect. After explaining our methods, everyone was convinced that our methods were correct. Then we asked, \”In that case, would you agree that our results are correct?\” The answer was, \”Well, I still cannot believe them\”. It would have been simple to do validation experiments, but no one has done them. This situation continued for 4 to 5 years. Our research capability was not sufficient to convince everyone of our findings. Then we decided that such arguments would not lead to a conclusion, and that our research direction should be to use this theory to improve the functionality of all the substances. We have continued our research along this line until today.
What is the property of this gravity wave resonance? It is an ultra high frequency wave, stronger than X ray and possesses frequencies higher than gamma ray. However, this wave is a longitudinal wave, while conventional energy waves are horizontal waves. Its waveform is just like the way genes are folded inside a chromosome. This is an ultra high frequency wave. Usually, high frequency waves generate a tremendous amount of energy, such as the gamma ray. However, contrary to common knowledge, the gravity wave has very low energy, and is in fact in an ultra low energy state. When light, heat or color stimulation is added to this wave resonance, they are expected to be totally taken up by this ultra high frequency and ultra low energy state.
As you are all aware, black holes exist in the universe. A black hole gathers all the cosmic light and dust, which regenerates or integrates to form new planets. These planets are said to be generated from the white hole on the opposite side of the black hole. The fundamental element, or function, of a black hole has been said to be gravity wave. In other words, light in the universe is generated as a result of the degeneration of matters, a process of increasing entropy in the system. And, gravity wave has the power to gather all the substances with increasing entropy and bring them toward the direction of regeneration .
In fact, we have confirmed recently that the same phenomenon may be caused by EM. EM has the mysterious property that the more EM is used, the greater is the accumulation of its effects such as antioxidation, deionization and regeneration caused by gravity wave. Since the accumulation continues, as EM is repeatedly used, the results become better and better in later experiments compared to the initial experiments .
This also applies to the health of human beings. When we repeatedly apply the gravity wave resonance or spray antioxidant to equipment or machines (such as computers), the performance of the computer will be improved by about 25%. Even for cars, a car that ran 8 km per liter during the first year has the running distance increased by 1 to 2 km per liter every year, and on the fifth year, it is running at about 15 km per liter. Usually when a car gets old, the fuel efficiency also goes down. In the case of applying EM, the fuel efficiency increases as years go by. This is reverse entropy.

These phenomena cannot be explained by the conventional heat energy theories. From our various studies, we recognize a phenomenon that when the gravity wave becomes stronger, the released unused energy, in other words entropy, accumulates and this is converted back into available energy. Then, through this energy, substance is regenerated. Conversion of energy into material is a reversal of the entropy theory. Usually, when material degenerates, energy or light is generated In the case of EM, we see the phenomenon that energy is being accumulated and this energy restores .the material in its surrounding back to the normal or even to an enhanced state. Without this theoretical background, the increase in the mass of iron by EM treatment which I mentioned earlier cannot be explained. We are thinking continuously of how to apply the gravity wave possessed by EM in a practical way. I think this wave resonance is related to the many magical effects of EM that we have observed so far.
In fact, the effects of EM are by no means magical, but are all interrelated with antioxidation, deionization and gravity wave, and reflect the phenomenon of a reverse process of the conventional theory of entropy.
I have designated this phenomenon of regenerative reversal with a term opposite to entropy; “syntropy”, combining “syn” as in synthesis and “tropy” as in entropy.
Technology so far has been established based on the principle of increasing entropy. Looking at it from another perspective, the fact that entropy is increased means that free radicals are produced in large quantities. Conversely, syntropy is to accumulate free radicals and various forms of unused energy, turn them into available energy, and through this energy to make new substance and strengthen substance, resulting in regeneration and ultimately cleaning of the environment. This is the fundamental concept for EM.
I hope you would bear in mind these three points as background while you observe the phenomena brought about by EM.
Next, I would like to change the subject to talk about microorganisms. Our knowledge on microorganisms is very poor. According to common sense, all bacteria are killed at 100°C or by autoclaving. But, in fact, the bacteria that die at 100°C or 120°C are restricted to those bacteria that inhabit the surface of the earth where oxygen tension is high. This is probably a matter of fact. However, for the group of microorganisms including the photosynthetic bacteria that I mentioned above, microorganisms that convert strong energy of the electron pathway into electricity; in other words, archaebacteria (ancestral bacteria of microorganisms), and extreme microorganisms (microorganisms that exist in highly limited harsh habitat), they do not die at 100°C. We now know that many kinds of such microorganisms exist in nature. This year, the Japanese Institute of Physics and Chemistry presented the findings of microorganisms having an optimal growth temperature of 114°C. Incidentally, the usual boiling point is 99°C or 100°C . Yet reported this year were other microorganisms that proliferate at temperatures higher then the boiling point. Up to now, 8 types of microorganisms having optimal growth temperatures between 90°C and 93°C have been reported. Recent studies in America have suggested a concept that microorganisms can be found ubiquitously in the soil throughout a depth of 2 km from the surface of the earth.
In nature, there are mysterious stones such as the volcanic glasses, obsidian and tourmaline. Some stones generate electricity. These stones are hard and are fantastic minerals used by the early people as cutting tools. When we break these minerals, put them into various nutrients and subject them to X ray or ultraviolet ray, from these stones we isolate microorganisms that we have never seen or even dreamt of until now. It has been said that the harder the stone, the better quality water one may get by putting the stone in water. Even from these hard stones, microorganisms have been isolated, or imprints of microorganisms have been detected even when culture is not possible.
These findings confirm that it is not unusual to find microorganisms anywhere in the layer 2 km from the surface of the earth. Even at the depth of 10,000 m down the ocean floor, many microorganisms exist. Almost all these bacteria are fermentative microorganisms; and the majority is the same types as EM. In this sense, our understanding of microorganisms is greatly affected by the habitat; from the surface of the earth where oxygen exists to places where oxygen is absent. It is important that we keep this in mind.
The theme for today’s talk is the application of EM technology to medicine. You all have in your conference bags a copy of “Clinical and Basic Medical Research on EM-X: Collection of Research Paper, Volume 1”. This book contains a collection of all the scientific data on EM that has been available from the year before last to last year, as a means to provide you with the latest information on EM. When reviewing the results contained in this book, we do not consider EM-X alone, but also the three conditions that I have mentioned above; that is, antioxidation, deionization and gravity wave, as a basis of selection of all these papers. When you read these papers, I hope that you would consider the mechanisms not only from the antioxidation point of view, but also from the other aspects.
The objective of the first International EM Medical Conference, as indicated in the announce-ment, is about preventive medicine.
When we are already sick, the cost of treatment is high and in various senses we inconvenience a lot of people. Therefore, we should take various approaches to prevent the occurrence of diseases. There is a global situation that the cost of medical treatment is increasing to the extent that it is creating a financial crisis in various countries. When the State is not providing health security, then the individual burden will be very great indeed.
The measures taken to prevent diseases involve an area different from the scope of medicine we know of so far. WHO Association of Japan (Japanese association for the World Health Organization), one of the sponsoring organizations of this conference, kindly participates in this meeting because they support the concept of disease prevention rather than cure.
Naturally, our health is supported by the environment, water, food and air. Therefore, it is common sense that when these elements become polluted, we get sick. This pollution at global level should be tackled properly with EM.
Regarding EM medical information, although it is obvious that we have started off with curing diseases using EM-X, this strategy of curing diseases after they have manifested is only the second best measure. The best strategy is to apply preventive measures before getting sick. If we think seriously of human health, a total approach to prevent diseases should be established. Even for holistic medicine, the central concept is to take a holistic approach to cure diseases that have already occurred. But, that is not correct, a holistic approach should also consider how not to get sick.
For this reason, I published a book last year entitled “EM Medical Revolution”, as introduced before. An excerpt has been included in the collection of EM research papers. However, the main interest of the readers over this book “EM Medical Revolution” also centers on how to cure diseases. Once again the emphasis is put on the curative side, and EM is not being used as I have hoped. Because of this, it is important to increase the awareness starting from food and environment.
Therefore, in this International EM Medical Conference, we have invited you to join the International EM” Medical Conference including the EM technology as a whole.

The information that I am going to talk about today is not from the viewpoint of curing diseases with EM but what to do to prevent diseases. I shall summarize this in 6 points.1. EM in agriculture
EM has the superior capability of being able to decompose dioxins, residual agricultural chemicals and pollutants in the soil, and the ability to clean the soil. However, it does not always work with only one application and may require multiple applications. Of course depending on the degree of pollution of the farm land, one application may be sufficient for decontamination, but, with repeated applications of EM, the crop is improved. In addition, agricultural products grown with EM have strong antioxidant activity and are tastier. The basic principle is to use EM thoroughly in agriculture to produce excellent agricultural products, that is, products with high antioxidant effect and high functional capability, and then to eat these products for health.
As I mentioned in my welcoming speech today, the food shortage problem in North Korea was completely solved in three years through using EM. In North Korea, EM is used in almost all the agricultural land, and all the agricultural products are EM crops. Recent data have shown that in these three years, the number of hospitalization has decreased and the number of patients has also been reduced significantly. These beneficial effects are probably because all the foods are derived from EM. The result is that agricultural chemicals or artificial fertilizers are hardly used there. Water and underground water is also almost free of pollution. We have started to solve the huge problem by linking environmental improvement with reduction of sick patients.
Recently in Japan, dietary therapy using EM grown vegetables and rice has been practiced in various facilities and groups, and has achieved great results. Especially, exceptional results have been obtained for diseases that are difficult to treat by contemporary medicine. The image of health care may be changed if EM agriculture would spread throughout Japan as in North Korea.
Recently in Japan, some people are growing EM at home using the rice-washing water with honey added, and use it various ways. They dilute the broth 500 times and use the water in pickling and washing vegetables or rice. By doing so, the wave resonance and antioxidant effect that EM possesses will eliminate harmful substances such as agricultural chemicals, or control the situations that generate free radicals. At the end of cooking, EM-X may be sprayed on the food. Using these methods, the harm from agricultural chemicals is almost completely eliminated and the food also becomes tastier. Health also improves to a high level. However, this method is only the second best strategy.
To incorporate the power of EM in daily life, we have added EM to salt as I mentioned earlier, and produced salt with a high EM wave resonance. We are presenting every participant in this conference a bottle of this salt to take home as souvenir. This salt has a good mineral balance. Even if you eat it as it is, you would not feel thirsty. If you use this salt for cooking or put this salt on food at the end of cooking, then the EM wave resonance increases. Food that has a negative score will turn to a wholesome state for the body. In short, eating this salt routinely is a prerequisite to maintain health.
In Japan, various opinions have been expressed. For example, someone might say that there is no need to take such measures if we are thankful for the food given to us and express our gratitude by saying \”thank you\”. O-ring tests may prove that right, therefore express your gratitude before you eat. Well, that may also be correct. But, including this method, I think we should take various steps to make sure that the food we eat is sound.

2. Antibiotics
Huge amounts of antibiotics are being used in animal farming and fishery, resulting in the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria worldwide. Although overuse of antibiotics in hospitals is also another factor, more antibiotics are being used routinely in animal husbandry.
Studies have been done to inject cows with EM-X in place of antibiotics. As a result, better yields are obtained even though antibiotics are not used at all. The cows grow well, and the meat has a full score of 21 points for wave resonance. This value means that eating this meat will also improve the health of human beings. Obviously this kind of meat is not available all over the country. However, with ordinary meat, we can also soak the meat in an EM broth that has been grown at home using rice-washing water, or rub EM salt into the meat, or spray EM-X on the meat, or store the meat in bags made with EM-X, then the meat that has a negative resonance score will become positive and change into a condition that is good to the body. While we try to establish farming methods that do not use antibiotics or other drugs and ensure its widespread and thorough use, at the same time we should take measures for those products not produced by the EM method and change these products into a good EM state and a good resonance state before we eat. This is a very important point.

3. Sick house syndrome and hypersensitivity to chemicals
Sick house syndrome and hypersensitivity to chemicals are important problem nowadays.
Many people are developing hypersensitivity to the carpet, paint and various chemical substances used in buildings. This has adverse effects on the nerve and the whole body, leaving the subjects always in a state of poor health. To overcome this problem, the rooms may be sprayed with EM-1, EM-X or ceramic powder once a week. And, clothes may also be washed with EM. By taking these measures, hypersensitivity to chemicals can be solved. For several years now, we have received many reports of patients who overcome this hypersensitivity by applying EM technology. In other words, it is a must to keep our own home in an exclusively antioxidant state and maintain a high field of gravity wave. If we do not take these steps to improve our living environment but only depend on taking drugs or EM-X, then we are choosing a less effective approach. The point is to conduct EM treatment for all the tools, including the clothes we use everyday.
In Japan, two contractors are selling houses that protect against diseases. In these houses, cement and all the building materials are totally treated with EM-X, EM or EM ceramics. Sure enough, foods placed in these houses do not rot easily. In a family where family members visited the hospital once a month in the past, now no one needs to go to hospital at all. Now there are more than 200 such houses, and they are increasing in popularity in Aichi Prefecture. By using EM in the house, the house itself also lasts longer. I think the durability will increase by about two-fold. We have received many reports that the people living in such houses actually become healthier. We shall collect these data and report them to you at a later date.

4. Legionella and Cryptosporidium
Legionella and Cryptosporidium are examples of parasites and microorganisms that are resistant to ordinary disinfectants. In fact the anthrax bacilli also belong to this group. By thoroughly using EM in the environment, these pathogens can be controlled. By using EM in mains water treatment, or by passing the chlorinated water through EM ceramics before it is used, the growth of these pathogens can be suppressed. The idea is to create a condition in which pathogens that generate freeradicals do not proliferate. This principle is also applied to tap water. Currently, some municipalities are formulating health-building plans by treating water with EM and passing water through EM ceramics before the water reaches the tap.

5. Food processing
The fifth point is food processing. We routinely process various kinds of food. By using EM-X instead of preservatives and additives or attaching EM ceramics to containers during food processing, foods showing negative resonance scores will turn to positive scores. These methods are necessary when food has to be kept for a long time. In fact, when these treatments are continued, foods that have been kept for a longer time become more beneficial to health compared to the beginning of treatment. They are changed to processed foods that are good for health. Together with solving the food problem, these methods will solve various issues of food processing and at the same time changing ordinary foods into foods with functional capacity and health benefits. I hope that you recognize the potential for development even in this area.

6. EM-X ceramics
Using a plastic bottle impregnated with EM-X ceramics, even chlorinated tap water turns into tasty and good-quality water. EM-X ceramics can be incorporated into tables, all plastic wares, even clothes, and earthen pot or cooking utensils with enameled surfaces. When these utensils are used for cooking, harmful substances are almost totally eliminated. In the Festa P Hall, many such products are now on display. Even without these utensils, just placing EM-X ceramics into the pot during cooking makes a great difference.
While it is very important to consider curing diseases clinically, in reality it is more important to consider disease prevention. Before diseases develop, if everyone would understand and implement the measures I have mentioned above, we shall be heading for a disease-free world, in other words, a true medical revolution. In anticipation of attaining this goal, I shall end my keynote speech here. Thank you for your attention.

Antioxidants are substances, which prevent oxidation or slow down the oxidation process reasonably. Oxidation is a vital process to sustain human life. Breathing is a type of oxidation process. Oxygen is taken into the lungs and is sent to all the cells in a body. The oxygen dissolves nutrients to obtain energy. However, the oxidation process may bring harmful effects when it becomes overactive in the human body. Activated oxygen is the cause of harmful effects. Oxygen is generally stable but loses its stability in the human body and becomes highly active. When such highly activated oxygen becomes over abundant, it oxidizes and destroys every thing that comes into its way.
The smallest unit of the human body is a cell. It is covered with a membrane that contains unsaturated fatty acids, which is similar to the major component of salad oil. Activated oxygen oxidizes unsaturated fatty acids to lipid peroxide, which causes mal functioning of the cell membrane and in turn brings harmful effects to human body.

Oxidation is a process in which a molecule gives up electrons and becomes unstable. When activated oxygen becomes excessive, unsaturated fatty acids in cell membrane give up its electrons. Antioxidants, if available, will provide electrons to the activated oxygen or to one unsaturated fatty acids under oxidation and will restore them to stable condition. Therefore oxidation will not proceed if abundant antioxidants exist. Antioxidants provide electrons to activated oxygen and other molecules, which have lost electrons and been unstable. Thus, antioxidants restore them to a stable condition. This is how antioxidants work to maintain a healthy body.